questions on the possibility of making a candidate who can see as far with one eye as other people can with two, or who can run faster with a wooden leg than common men can with flesh and bone underpinnings; and yet every Mason should know that the old regulation which we did not make, and which we cannot change, is as explicit as can be on the point. The answer, therefore, to all such questions is simply a reiteration of the law: "A candidate must be free from maim or defect in his body."

We have, however, to deal with another class, who take the opposite tack and stretch the law into degrees, which had no existence when the regulation was promulgated. It is well known that at the time of the revival, the Lodges conferred but one degree, that of Entered Apprentice, and that it was not until some time afterward that the Grand Lodge ceded to them the right to practice the Second and Third Degrees. Now the regulation as to physical qualification being of older date than the right to confer the Second and Third Degrees, it is clear that it could not apply to them unless by some special legislation to that effect. No such act appears, and none such has been enacted, except in isolated jurisdictions, the boundaries of which have limited its effect. In the absence, then, of a local law, adapted by competent authority, the regulation in regard to physical qualifications has no application beyond the First, or E. A. Degree. Or, in other words, a candidate being whole and sound at the time of his making and subsequently being maimed, he is not thereby prevented from being advanced.

We have been considerably shot at, because of our advocacy of this plain construction of a plain law, and we have been openly accused of a willingness to allow crippled persons to be exalted to the Royal Arch, and created Templars.

We remark here in passing, that it is a weakness of human nature to attribute to men sentiments they have never entertained, and especially to infer motives and intent, of which they have never dreamed, and we judge that out of this weakness comes the accusation of which we speak. Our position is-and we defy any one to cite authority in contradiction of it-that the language of the old regulation applies only to profanes seeking to be made Entered Apprentices, and that it has never been altered since its original promulgation, and cannot now be, because there is no universal authority having power to do it, and hence when a person who has regularly received the degrees of Ancient Craft Masonry, and, being maimed, applies for those conferred under the warrant of a Royal Arch Chapter, his rejection on account of maiming can only be justified by a law of the Grand Chapter hav

ing jurisdiction. That is to say, that if a Grand Chapter enacts a regulation forbidding its subordinates to confer the capitular degrees on maimed candidates, then the degrees cannot be conferred, but if there is no such special regulation, then the old law in relation to profanes does not and cannot be made to apply. The same is true in the Commandery. It is quite true that a semi-military organization would hardly look well parading the halt and the maimed, but if they do not want to fill up their ranks in that way, they must make unto themselves a law forbidding the orders to be conferred on persons thus afflicted, and not depend on the efficacy of a regulation which has no possible reference to them or their affairs. Think it over.-N. Y. Dispatch.

HOPE THOU IN GOD.

It was an Autumn day

The doors, of the old church were wide apart,
And through the open windows, the eyes of
Gather'd worshippers, could catch a sight of
Green leaves waving in the wind, and low-roof'd
Cottages, wreath'd with the jasmine-vines,-and
Lonely, as though in very tenderness-
Whispered they, one to another, there; 'till
A new sound was heard, and up the aisle, with
Measur'd steps, and slow, he came-the man of
God-followed by bearers with the wept-for
Dead. And silently, with pallid brows and
Quivering lips, the mourners came, and then
Each sound was hushed; the whispers all grew still,
As, with his hands cross'd o'er the Holy Book,
The pastor stood-his blue eye brightning with
The hope that filled his soul, and his broad brow
Radiant with the joy he taught.

He spake-

Softly his words fell o'er the multitude,

And-"Hope Thou in God!" fell from his thin, red

Lips. A smile of peace o`er saddened faces crept,

And a new light to weeping eyes, and to

Mourning hearts, a joy no grief could take away.

And tenderly the pall was spread, and then,

As prayerfully, the loving laid the

Aged to his sleep, a-through their spirits,

Like the soft chiming of the Sabbath bells,

Sounded the prophets trust-" HOPE THOU IN GOD!”

And thou, pale traveler to the holy

Land-thou, who hast trod the press of grief, and
Wrestled with a burning pain, that from the

Heart drew blood-drops-that 'mid all change, and hate,
And scorn, hast striven for the "narrow path;
And trembled as the hand thou'dst clasp'd, was clasping,
Other hands, and the clear eyes that looked upon
Thee lovingly, forgot thee wholly, and turned
To other eyes, to read what once was read

In thine, thou, who hast paled, as voices that
Have blessed thee changed to cursing; and striven
With the wrong of word and deed, 'till heart hath
Failed, and faith itself gave o'er,-Oh! well may'st
Thou-frail child, and mourning-take this, thy soul's gift,
To thee, Hope Thou in God!" and yet bear

On. It may be long-how long, He only

Knows-before the grief-cloud breaks away! But

Put thou on the pleasant smile and quiet

Air-this woe of thine must go-for His great
Love o'ershadows it, and underneath is

His Almighty arm. And if, perchance,
The mountain-way is trod, then comes the
Joy to which it led, and thou at last, art
Nearer Heaven.

"HOPE THOU IN GOD!"

-MRS. FIDELIA WOOLEY GILLETTE.

THE HOLY BIBLE, SQUARE AND COMPASSES.

Symbolic Masonry combines the teachings of Nature and Revelation, in a most instructive and impressive manner. It avails itself of every suggestion of the sublime principles of moral and Masonic truth, found in the volume of Nature, exhibiting lessons of wisdom, strength and beauty, both for our admiration and imitation. Many symbols are employed to impress these great lessons upon our minds, with such lectures and illustrations as will enable us to feel their force and appreciate their value and beauty.

But the Great Light in Masonry is the Holy Bible. There is such a value placed upon this, that no Lodge can be opened without it—no Mason would sit in a Lodge unless he saw the Book of the law, open, upon its altar, with the Square and Compasses lying upon its open pages. All would be Masonic darkness without this Great Light! But symbolic teaching requires the fixed attention of the mind, to gain a full and complete knowledgs of all the valuable suggestions of these silent instructors. We very well understand why the open Bible lies before the assembled craft; for from the position it occupies, and the wise lessons imparted by it, we readily perceive that it is the central light from which we derive a knowledge of God, and the divine principles on which his moral government is founded-we perceive

the origin of our race, and the great destiny that awaits those who wili so live on earth as to pass to superior joys when we are called from our labors. All this is plain enough to the observing Masonic mind.

But why do we see the "Square and Compasses" ever resting upon its pages? What connection have these with the “Great Light ?`` These questions present a theme of thought upon which the Masonic mind may expand with profitable reflection :

1. The Bible is sacredly regarded by our ancient Order as the moral and Masonic trestle-board upon which the Supreme Grand Master has drawn his spiritual designs. "As the operative Mason erects his temporal building in accordance with the designs laid down upon the trestle-board by the master workman, so should we, both operative and speculative, endeavor to erect our spiritual building in accordance with the designs laid down by the Supreme Architect.”

2. From the designs drawn out by Divine Wisdom, upon the pages of this great trestle-board, we perceive the immortal nature of the human soul; its vast capacity, and the demands and appliances necessary for its enjoyment in this life, as well as that superior state that awaits the just and pure, in that "building of God, that house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.'

3. A fitness for that spiritual habitation, requires skilful labor upon the material which is to compose the spiritual edifice. "Living stones," taken from the quarries of nature, as rough ashlers, susceptible, by gracious influences, and diligent labor, to receive a form and fitness for its appropriate place in the living temple, have to be fitted for their place in the building.

4. To fashion these living stones after the models laid down in the spiritual trestle-board, the "Square and Compasses" are indispensable. It is by these that we are able to copy the dimensions, form and structure of all the parts, and work them into the structure of the perfect ashler. These spiritual working tools are, therefore, always seen resting upon the designs, ready to render service to every true craftsman who designs to work out his salvation according to the pattern shown him in this fountain of moral and Masonic light.

means

5. Models and designs drawn upon the trestle-board, work! It means diligent and skillful work! The more skillful and diligent the workman, the higher will be his promotion in rank, distinction and honor. He is at work upon a spiritual edifice-a living temple-that will endure forever. It is thus a distinguished honor to become a co-worker with God, for while He works in us to will and do His pleasure, we work out our salvation-the work He has given us to do-we fear as to our ability, and a trembling anxiety to succeed in the

perfection of the great design before us. Let us apply the Square of virtue with great care, lest we fail to copy the design correctly; and use the Compasses to circumscribe our passions and keep our spirit under a strict discipline, lest the work we have in hand be marred and ultimately rejected and thrown aside as unfit for a place in the Living Temple. In this delicate and skilful work, all the working tools of the craft will be found useful, in the "more glorious and spiritual uses" for which we are taught to employ them; but the Square and Compasses are ever to lie upon the spiritual trestle-board, suggesting the valuable idea of copying the grand designs there drawn out, and chiseling every part into the work before us in the model of our Masonic character.

POPULARITY NOT POWER.

When men are applying for admission through our tyled doors in such number as to remind us of doves flocking to their windows, there is special need of Masonic vigilance. There is a great danger attending the unprecedented popularity of our Institution. Masons should

ever remember that our strength is not in numbers. There is a difference between counting and weighing. An illustrious man who had once been defeated in his aspirations for office by an overwhelming majority-though supported by a large share of the country's talents, said: "I would have been elected if my votes had been weighed, instead of counted."

Let us weigh and measure the virtues of those who seek admission, and not merely defraud ourselves with the idea that because we are growing in numbers, that we are increasing in the elements of Masonic strength. Let vice once preponderate over virtue, and the sacredness of Masonry in the eyes of observing men will be obscured, if not entirely vanished.

Let not the cheat "he is a good fellow" lead you to introduce material into the temple walls, which when the frost touches it, will crumble like an Egyptian mummy when brought from its tomb to the outer air. We want men who will be living exemplars of the value and beauty of our principles. Men-who if an enquirer should say what is truth, temperance, honor?-we can point to our brethren and say-there are incarnations of these virtues.

Seven such men make a stronger lodge than scores of profane. vulgar, dishonerable, intemperate and brawling men can make. Every mean Mason is a positive damage to a lodge. Lodges do themselves great injustice by retaining those who viciously violate the principles of